“I would have won the title much sooner in the McLaren,” Max Verstappen claimed after securing his fourth Formula 1 championship last week. Naturally, rival Lando Norris disagreed. Following a dominant victory in Las Vegas and a new pole position in Qatar, George Russell also dares to join the title discussion.
The Daily Mail asked George Russell in Qatar if he could have won the championship in the MCL38 of McLaren. “Yes, absolutely,” he responded without hesitation. “Verstappen has only won once in the last twelve races, so he is definitely beatable. The difference is that when he got the chance, he seized it. His rivals didn’t always do that,” he added teasingly.
‘Norris has thrown away points’
“Lando Norris and McLaren have left a lot of points on the table,” the Mercedes driver continued. “And that’s why Verstappen, who is an exceptional driver anyway, has already been able to decide the championship. I would even go so far as to say that I could have won the title in the Red Bull, as they had the fastest car at the start of the season. Even Sergio Pérez finished second a few times. Only in the second half of the season were they beaten by McLaren and Ferrari.
Russell Takes a Subtle Jab at McLaren: ‘Hopefully a Race Without Team Orders’
George Russell defended his statements by asserting that Mercedes – which was only sporadically competitive enough for the win this year – has always maximized its potential. “If you look at the three moments when we had a chance to take pole position, we did it all three times,” he explained. “Moreover, we have actually won all the races in which we were able to win. Only Montreal is an exception. In most cases, therefore, we have performed to the maximum.” This year, Mercedes has already won four Grand Prix races, namely in Austria, Great Britain, Belgium, and Las Vegas.
